bamboozled

Dream is with Oud now, getting a once over. Jonwilly, I told him we were "friends" as I couldn't figure out how to say that you had advised me to go there in Thai. Please don't think me presumptuous!

I brought the Dream by your guy Oud to have a look and set up an appointment to leave it there on Monday so he can go over it thoroughly. Got my fingers crossed. I'll keep y'all posted.

Excellent, you guys have given me renewed hope and I am excited to get my Dream dreamy again. For the brakes, they worked just fine when I got the bike and for years afterward. My friend has a much older model Dream, the two-tone type with the white fenders/leg guard whatever you call it and his stops much better than mine. Well, let's hope Khun Oud can tidy that up, too. I'll certainly report back!

Cheers!

Awesome, thanks guys. That's what I wanted to hear and what I thought, too. I changed the oil every 3000 km. Went over 3000 a few times but I took pretty good care of it. I just wonder if the guy never changed the clutch and that's what the "slipping" issue is, though the mechanic that said it's life expectancy was over had confirmed that it did indeed have a new clutch. But he seemed very quick to confirm that. How did he confirm that so quickly, I wonder? I'm going to see your man, jonwilly, on Tung Hotel. Yeah, I need a mechanic that gives a crap. thanks so much! Gee, really, I love tinkering on cars and such but would want a manual in English to help me along if I start opening up the Dream. One strange thing....I couldn't and still have not gotten the brakes to function well. Changed the front and back pads using the high grade ones...Honda brand maybe (can't remember). That didn't do it. One guy tells me I have to change the whole rear wheel that also holds the drum. I'm thinking why can't they just machine the drum but language is always a problem and for 1300 baht I said go for it. It accomplished nothing to make the brakes any better. The brake is pretty simple and the only thing not changed at this point are the cables. I wonder if that's the issue...? 

Even if the engine is tired...can't imagine it's too hard to overhaul it. Such a tiny accessible thing!

I did read on here that you can get an aftermarket body part kit for around 5k from Mong shop on Chang Moi road so if I can get the thing in mechanical shape who knows, I might spring for a fresh body, too.

Thanks all......

I am the original owner of this bike, bought 10 or 12 years ago. It now has 66,000 km on the clock, 125cc engine. It has been getting sluggish lately and hard to start and we're not in the cold season yet. Actually, when you give it gas, especially when cold, if revs up but takes a second or 2 for the transmission to catch, so it seems. Feels quite like a slipping clutch though that was replaced very recently...if indeed the mechanic replaced it and did not just show me someone else's old clutch parts. The engine feels pretty strong once it does "latch on" and this slipping thing gets better as the engine warms up. One of the mechanics we go to said 66k is about the life of one of these things and we should look at a new one. That's fine and we will probably do that. Nonetheless, I would like to keep the old Dream and get it in the best shape possible. I like the ride and handling of the Dream far better than the Wave, which feels unstable to me. Perhaps it's a matter of getting used to it. But my real question is about fixing up the Dream. If a manual in English was available I would attempt the work myself. Does anyone know of such a manual? Does anyone have input on what might be the problem? Needs new rings? Total engine/carb overhaul? It can't be hard. The mechanic we brought it to did not seem to want to fix it. Surely there must be shops in CM who are keen and knowledgeable about this kind of work? Or are folks here in agreement that I should just drive the wounded beast as is? By the way, I don't know about the rest of you but for me the search function on here is 99% useless.

thank you

My wife says it was city hall we went to...somewhere in that vast complex. I would go there in person with your inquiry about setting up the company. If that is not the correct place, they will point you in the right direction.

I seem to recall reading multiple times over they years that a foreigner indeed has a pre-set minimum monthly wage. I recall 60,000 baht/month. I may be mixing up requirements for a foreigner setting up a company in Thailand and a foreigner employed by a Thai company. A note of caution: I founded a Thai company 10 or 12 years ago and paid a lawyer/accountant a good bit of money to set it up and additionally for monthly accounting. I never quite liked or trusted the lawyer but beggars can't be choosers and as a foreigner here we are somewhat beggars. Anyhow, after a good number of years I wanted to close the company as it was no longer of use to me but the lawyer's fee, if I remember correctly, was 40,000 baht, perhaps more, I can't quite recall. Some of it was his fee and a good bit was supposedly to the government for various forms/documents/etc... It seemed a crazy amount of money to simply close a company. In the interim of having this company I had gotten married to a Thai woman. We ended up going to one of the governmental offices on Chotana Rd (can't remember which now) and closing the company ourselves for a whopping 250 baht. That was it, done. Oh, I think I paid an extra 20 baht to have the official document laminated. It's true that I did not have any debt or bills or outstanding anything...the company had been dormant for years already. Who knows how much money the guy fleeced from me over the years. My initial gut feeling about the guy proved true but again I guess I didn't know where else to go at the time.

My advise would be for your wife to inform herself as much as possible about the situation before entrusting lawyers and accountants. It must have been the labor dept. we went to on Chotana Rd, the road that runs to Mae Rim. It is on the left side when going out of town, huge place. I would go there and ask around about what is necessary. Get it straight from the horse's mouth.

Cheers.....

Don't some of these factors depend on your native country? Or is that only when founding a company? I have heard that there are some special exemptions for folks holding US passports. I don't know why this is, exactly, but if the poster is from the US he may be able to partake.

Hey guys, yes, it is worth my while to put a little money into the place and find a workable solution...I think. It takes some time to get over the shock of breaking something that was working just fine to then have to output time and money to "fix" the thing that wasn't broken in the first place, if you follow me. 3 or 4 years down the road is too slow. I don't imagine I will still be here in this house. I have a new 2 year lease. I think by that point, if I'm still in this house, the area will be so over built and busy that I will have had enough of CM city living. Such a shame as it used to be such a tranquil "town" but don't get me started on that.

I'm certainly going to look into the passion fruit tree/plant. That sounds like a quick grower. I have rigged up some netting, oh what beauty, and it needs some serious tweaking to be effective but it's a start. I bought the 50% blockage, silver color (for those familiar with it) but realize I should have gone with the 80%. Well, it's cheap enough. Sad the place looks ever more like an industrial lot but for the time being, so be it. We have our eyes open for any house that may come along with super appeal and the rent is cheap enough here that I could do a slow move over a couple months. That would ease the pain. The tree that was cut was also one of those small-leafed, continually shedding types so one benefit, perhaps the only one, is that the drive/yard doesn't need a sweep every night. Well that's something.

I'm not sure. Probably not adverse to a small one but it would not do a lot to cut down the heat. A large one...would cost a lot to purchase/plant or a lot of time for a smaller one to grow big enough. But I might purchase a few smaller ones to at least beautify the place. I have some already which I will probably move around to better suit the current needs. I bought some netting today and will see about hanging it. Sure gonna look pretty....

The in laws live with you, or you with them? What a miserable lot of bad-advice monks.

It's a very cool house, as in we like it, not the temp. It's also large and serves us well in the things we get up to. And the rent is extremely reasonable. The location is very good if you want to skip a rock in the moat, among other things. It is very secure and my wife feels safe staying in it alone. Finding a place we are this fond of will not be easy. Most likely the rent will be much higher. It can probably be done but it's hard work and will most likely mean moving out of the city...which is not terrible perhaps but a change to get used to nonetheless. Moving all the things we have will be no picnic either. It is time consuming and disruptive. It is more than a couple trips with a pickup truck. Packing up a household is not a job done in one day, nor is organizing one anew. There is an expense involved, too, and I'm not so flush that it won't make an impact on my financials. I'm not just moving a studio room. It's a huge time "loss" or time not spent on what you need to be spending it on. This is the reason I am trying to find a work around. In the end, I may indeed be forced to move.

The concrete yard is gross, yes, but we have potted plants/trees around and a couple garden/dirt areas. The tree did a HUGE part in softening the concrete effect visually.

The tree should have been trimmed as we had agreed upon, in my opinion. Again, since the "yard" is all concrete, the heat is incredible and the house as-is is completely ill-suited to air con. Any option involves an expenditure of time and money on my part. Well, so it goes sometimes....you lose out. Moving wasn't on my list as I just re-signed another two year lease but it might be on my list now. I'm thinking as a starting point I will put some stakes in pots filled with sand and run that light green netting across the area. It will be ugly to look at but easy and cheap and we'll take it from there. I can at least take it down and put it up easily enough. I'll try adding some plants perhaps...and in the meantime start looking at new rentals. I tried watering the area yesterday and it quickly changed into a steam room. The misters might help.

Bundooman, are you making do with air con for the time being?

Yes I think the canopy thing is probably really the only feasible option without spending a boatload of money. Unfortunately, that won't do much for the aesthetics of the situation. That and some shrubs/small trees as you suggest to create a barrier. I do have some 30 foot bamboo poles that I could try to rig up and run some of that netting across. It all starts to seem a bit ridiculous at a certain point. But if I can make it livable with a little ingenuity that would give me some time to find a suitable place to relocate if that's an inevitability. I'm still digesting the change. As I mentioned in my first post, the house is all windows with screens and shutters but no glass so to make air con feasible I would either have to close all the shutters or put glass. Not that the shutters close well anymore. That still leaves me with purchasing a lot of air cons, too boot. Thanks for the reply.

Thanks, guys. This is certainly an option. It's sad that there once was a beautiful natural barrier that not only provided protection from the sun/heat but also softened and beautified the yard. Now what is left looks like a prison yard and feels like you're standing in the parking lot of Macro. I am really hoping I can come up with some sort of natural barrier that would somewhat duplicate what the tree provided in all ways. Perhaps I can put up the mesh for the time being and work on getting some plants strategically placed....

I appreciate your input, thanks.

Looking for some advice. My landlord recently cut down a 40 foot tree that provided ample shade for the house and yard. The house faces south and the yard is encased in concrete as is often the case in city houses. The tree blocked a good bit of sun for most of the day as it was fairly large and the branches covered a good bit of the area. Now, the house and yard are baking all day in the sun with a southern exposure. There is no escape and sitting in the house you can feel the waves of heat radiating off the concrete which spans about 40/50 feet across to the wall and adjacent house. I'm not especially happy about this development and in fact was not in-country when it happened or would have hopefully prevented it. Anyhow, the rent is quite reasonable or I would move. The house is wood/concrete and has windows all around though they are of screen and shutters but no glass. In fact, the "walls" are almost completely windows. Thus air-con all around is not really feasible as you would have to close all the shutters and live in the dark. So, I am looking for ideas on how to block this sun if at all possible. I thought of planting some kind of fast-growing bamboo or tree to replace the cut one...but really, I don't imagine it will grow quickly enough to provide much relief. A canopy extending from the house a couple meters into the yard? This would not block the waves of heat coming in but I suppose would cut them down. It would also darken the house a lot. I thought of a row of potted plants a couple meters out from the house. This would of course put an obstacle in the middle of the yard area but...at least it is prettier than a vinyl tarp or net or such. Watering down the yard every 5 minutes? Those misting hoses on the edge of the house? Since this is a rental I don't want to sink too much money into it. Does anyone have an idea or two?

Thank you!

I love Ballast Point Sculpin IPA! About $12/6-pack in Massachusetts. Oh, wait, I'm in CM now.... Where's Nampton's if I feel like reliving my past?

Any recommendations for someone to build an e-commerce website here in CM?

Thanks, Bamboozeled.

The Thai bashers never rest. Nothing nothing to do or see or experience or enjoy in Thailand, the land of crappy people and everything else crappy, too. Why the heck are you here? Geez....

Has anyone recently imported any goods from USA (or anywhere but I would be doing it from USA) via sea cargo? I did a small container years ago but don't have current info. I know import duties can be a real stinker and whatever handouts you have to give, too. I would just be shipping 2 or 3 cubic meters this go 'round. I'd be grateful for any advise/tips, etc... Also, the import shipping company I used last time, Angelfreight, no longer seems to be around. Any one with recent experience on that front?

Thanks a bunch! Sproggy

They seem to have dissipated. I may have cut down their nest on another part of the tree and didn't notice it. Luckily, they did not sting me. I don't believe bees mate but they did seem to be having some kind of social interaction as they were sort of crawling on top of each other/grappling. Later that same day, I saw a group of about 6 or 8 bigger, green in color, wasps congregating on the end of a rope. That made me think there was something about this time of year that leads bee-type thingies to hold get-togethers. Is it jamboree season?

....does look like a stinger at the end. But they're not very aggressive.

Hi folks, I have a cluster of little bee looking insects on the underside of some leaves. It looks like they are trying to build a nest or something. I think I've seen these little buggers land on my arm from time to time in the past and they never caused me any harm. They are about 1 to 1.5 cm long only. I want to cut out the branch they are on...doing some house cleaning. Can I ignore them or are they going to sting me?

Thanks....

Yes I'm probably over thinking the thing. I don't have an AC guy currently. I don't even have an AC unit right now...